State on trail of toxic polluter in Ship Channel area

TCEQ answers criticism that it skipped hearing though monitors were in the area

DINA CAPPIELLO, Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Published 6:30 am, Friday, February 4, 2005

A day after state environmental regulators failed to appear at a public meeting on the high levels of toxic pollution measured in some Ship Channel-area neighborhoods, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality confirmed Thursday that it is conducting an investigation to determine the source of the contamination.

Mobile monitoring vans have been recording pollution levels downwind of major facilities in the Milby Park area and around Channelview since Jan. 26, the agency said, to pinpoint which industrial plants are responsible for the high concentrations of cancer-causing chemicals found there by the state in 2003 and by the Houston Chronicle last year.

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"The very idea that they were in Houston and working in the area and did not drop in and say hello makes it worse," said Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia.

Many of the elected officials at the meeting had learned late Wednesday afternoon that TCEQ officials would not attend. Garcia sent a letter Thursday to Executive Director Glenn Shankle reiterating her concern.

"You had 250 people who just wanted to be able to be heard and to get a sense of agencies being responsive to them and to have someone to trust, and they left with nothing," she said.

Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Perry, also expressed his concern about the no-show.

"The governor is disappointed that TCEQ staff did not attend the meeting," said Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt. "It is our understanding that the TCEQ today is working with Senator (Mario) Gallegos to set up another meeting and they will be there and spend whatever time is necessary to address the concerns."

The agency also said Thursday that it had received calls or correspondence from several state legislators: Gallegos, D-Houston; Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston; Rep. Melissa Noriega, D-Houston; and Rep. John Davis, R-Houston.

The town hall meeting, titled "Air Pollution Solutions," was called in response to the high levels of toxic chemicals reported by the TCEQ in a review of 2003 state pollution data released last month and by the Chronicle investigation.

Both reports showed that levels of pollution — including benzene, 1,3-butadiene and formaldehyde — in some industrial neighborhoods were high enough to increase the risk of cancer if they were inhaled continuously for 70 years.

E-mail obtained from Councilwoman Carol Alvarado's office indicates the TCEQ was still planning Tuesday morning to attend the meeting and to present a 15-minute overview of the pollution it recorded in the area.

On Wednesday morning, Jody Henneke of the agency's Office of Public Assistance e-mailed Alvarado's office, writing, "I would like to visit with you as soon as possible concerning tonight's meeting. Our Executive Director, Glenn Shankle, asked that I share with you his potential concerns about the format and the conduct of the meeting."

Absence questioned

U.S. Rep.
Gene Green
, D-Houston, one of the meeting's sponsors, said he didn't know what the agency was afraid of.

"We have industry represented, the public," Green said during the meeting Wednesday. "This is the first time I've experienced this in over a dec-ade."